HOSPITAL VISITING

All hospital visitors are recommended to wear a medical face mask. For more information about visiting: Visitors and family. See our COVID-19 page for general COVID-19 advice, detailed hospital visiting guidelines and COVID-19 tests.

See West Coast COVID-19 vaccination clinics for info on vaccinations link COVID-19 Vaccination • West Coast • Healthpoint

Last updated:
16 September 2022

Fewer visitor restrictions now apply

For visitors to all facilities (effective from and last updated on 16 September 2022)

Some visitor restrictions for all Te Whatu Ora Te Tai o Poutini West Coast health facilities remain in place, but we have relaxed others.

There is still a heightened risk to vulnerable people in hospital and so people must continue to wear a mask when visiting any of our facilities and follow other advice designed to keep patients, staff and other visitors safe.

Kia whakahaumaru te whānau, me ngā iwi katoa – this is to keep everybody safe:

  • Visitors or support people must not visit our facilities if they are unwell. Do not visit if you have recently tested positive for COVID-19 and haven’t completed your isolation period.
  • Patients in single rooms may have more than one visitor while patients in multi-bed rooms can have one visitor only per patient to ensure there is no overcrowding.
  • People can have one or two support people to accompany them to outpatients appointments.
  • Women in labour in a birthing suite, in Te Nīkau Hospital’s Maternity Ward and in Buller’s Kawatiri Maternity Unit can have the usual support people, subject to space, for the duration of their stay in our facilities.
  • Eating or drinking at the bedside is at the discretion of the Clinical Nurse Manager. Visitors must not eat or drink in multibed rooms because of the increased risk when multiple people remove their mask in the same space.
  • Hand sanitiser is available and must be used.

Thank you in advance for your patience and understanding as our staff work hard to protect and care for some of the most vulnerable in our community.

Mask wearing

  • Surgical/medical masks must be worn at all sites, except in counselling, mental health and addiction services where it’s on a case-by-case agreement with patients. Masks will be provided if you don’t have one. In higher-risk environments, people, including young children, may not be able to visit if they cannot wear a mask.
  • Any member of the public with a mask exemption is welcome in all our facilities when attending to receive health care and *treatment. Please show your mask exemption card and appointment letter to staff at the entrance. *Treatment includes coming into the Emergency Department, outpatient appointments, surgery or a procedure.

Visiting patients with COVID-19

  • People are able to visit patients who have COVID-19 but they must wear an N95 mask – this will be provided if you don’t have one.
  • Other methods of communication will be facilitated e.g. phone, Facetime, Zoom, WhatsApp etc where visits aren’t possible.

You must NOT visit our facilities if you

  • are COVID-19 positive
  • are unwell. Please stay home if you have a tummy bug or cold or flu/COVID-19-like symptoms (even if you’ve tested negative for COVID-19).

Te Whatu Ora West Coast Aged Residential Care facilities

Visitors are welcome at our Aged Care Residential facilities, subject to the space available. All visitors must wear a surgical mask.

More COVID-19 information

Independent assessment of O’Conor Home shows no concerns

Thursday 18 January 2018Media release3 minutes to read

An independent audit has not identified any significant issues at Westport's aged residential care facility O'Conor Home and in some categories the assessors felt the standard of care was ‘exemplary'.

In response to a range of concerns raised by members of the community about care provided at the O'Conor Home a special assessment was commissioned by the DHB to provide an independent audit of the management and quality of care provided at the facility, West Coast DHB Chief Executive David Meates says.

While regular auditing is undertaken of all rest home providers throughout the country, a special audit is requested when concerns have been raised that need to be looked into urgently and outside the routine audit process. 

The review of O'Conor Home was undertaken in December by a team of specialists from TAS [Technical Advisory Service], an independent audit provider based in the North Island. TAS staff are involved in the review of a large number of aged care facilities throughout the country. The final audit report was received today and the West Coast DHB is making this report publicly available.

West Coast and Canterbury DHB geriatrician Dr Jackie Broadbent and Nursing Director Older People Kate Lopez say they are comfortable with the outcome of the report. 

“The special and independent audit took a comprehensive approach, reviewing whether the care at O'Conor Home meets New Zealand requirements, as articulated in the ARRC contract and the HDSS standards. In general, O'Conor performed at or exceeded the stated requirements. A few areas of improvement, deemed low risk, were identified. This is usual for this type of audit, and will enable O'Conor to further refine the service they offer to the community. The report clearly demonstrates that the care of residents at O'Conor Home is in line with and at times exceeds expected standards, and reflects positively on both clinical care and organisational management.  It's a good report,” they said.

Mr Meates said this report means residents and families can continue to have confidence in the standard of care offered by O'Conor Home. 

“The minor matters which were raised are fairly standard for any spot audit.  O'Conor Home will be working through those now. 

“Anyone can bring any issues with aged residential care directly to the DHB so we can make sure our older Coasters are being cared for appropriately.  With regard to these particular concerns, this is the end of the matter now,” he says.

The report is available to view here.

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Page last updated: 17 April 2019

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